"But what worse fate could there be? To remember love and know it is unattainable? To know love wanders somewhere light-years and light-years distant,"But what worse fate could there be? To remember love and know it is unattainable? To know love wanders somewhere light-years and light-years distant, ever knowing it is forever out of reach?"
A very strange little book. Downright hilarious at times and oddly deep at others. Existence is absurd....more
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I LOVED this book. The Shadow Catcher takes us into the world of Krzyś, a young boy living in Warsaw just before the invasion by Germany th⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I LOVED this book. The Shadow Catcher takes us into the world of Krzyś, a young boy living in Warsaw just before the invasion by Germany that began WW2. This is not the type book I typically read, as historical fiction doesn’t usually call to me, but this book was so captivating. The descriptions, from the setting to Krzyś� thoughts, were so immersive. I really love character driven stories so it was very fascinating to me to read about his perspective on life.
“When I die, he thought to himself, I'll see it all as it really is, in the light of day, while I myself will remain invisible. I'l see everything in the tiniest detail, every nook and cranny, every blade of grass, every droplet... I'll soar above the earth like a bird, and there will be no shadow anywhere. Everything will be clear, full, lush. Everything will be simple and understandable.�
Ugh the writing is just so beautiful. And why was he so relatable?! Much of this story is dedicated to Krzyś� thoughts on the world, religion, love, family, and many things we wonder about as we grow up. For example, his relationship with his mother really hit hard for me. Like any child, he always wanted her love but has come to accept that he doesn’t get it. And she doesn’t seem to know how to show love.
“She was always under the illusion that school constituted his entire world. Beyond school he simply did not exist. She seemed not to comprehend the fact that he too, quite independently of mathematics, biology, or Latin, thought, felt, and interacted with himself and with the world.�
Krzyś� relationship to the world becomes the main focus of this book which is often explored as he discusses feeling a duality between the “world within him and that outside him�, a feeling he comes to identify as loneliness. Loneliness is also a major theme as Krzyś feels alienated and like an outsider to the world. Books that have this theme are ALWAYS going to do it for me. And that ending? GUTTED me. Can’t recommend enough....more
“I'm here because I put myself here. Or because I was put here? Because a novel. Because I was lost to begin with. Because everything we love we will “I'm here because I put myself here. Or because I was put here? Because a novel. Because I was lost to begin with. Because everything we love we will lose. I am here because a cactus.�
I, too, am here (reading this book) because of a cactus. Because I was told of the ✨magical cactus� and all its glory that is featured in this book and had to check it out for myself. This book is easily the most surprising 5 star read I’ve ever had.
Why? It is about a woman struggling with complicated feelings surrounding her dying father and chronically ill husband. Searching for an escape, she runs away to a small western town and becomes lost hiking in the desert, whereupon she goes on a journey including giant cacti, talking rocks, and some of the funniest one-liners I’ve ever read in a book.
So is this a book I expected to be SOBBING MULTIPLE TIMES OVER?? No. And yet I was. I was so deeply moved by the mix of humor and deep themes. How can you grieve someone who is still living? How do you live with the guilt of coming to resent someone you love? This book is bold, messy, and beautiful.
a) all of Sasha’s shitty opinions are actually just the author’s own, and this book is just her way to argue with tLowered to 1 star after finding out
a) all of Sasha’s shitty opinions are actually just the author’s own, and this book is just her way to argue with the wall
b) Jules is apparently based on rachel maddow?? meaning� you wrote smut about rachel maddow� genuinely what the fuck
Original review:
You ever read a book where you think, aw, I would love to be in this friend group! Yeah, this ain’t the one.
Dykette is a very fearless book in many ways. I feel like many people who are in queer circles or spaces will encounter people like Sasha and company. I’m sick of media that portrays gay people only as funny sidekicks or tragic martyrs. I’m the number one supporter of Bad Gays. So in that regard, I found the characters entertaining AT FIRST (about 30% in it soured).
I certainly understand the low reviews on this book. There were a lot of parts of this book that made me facepalm. Sasha got really, REALLY tiring to read after a while. I don’t require main characters to be likable or relatable for me to enjoy reading about them, in fact I often prefer if they’re not. But I got annoyed to the point of not wanting to read sometimes.
On a positive note, this book and main character made me feel better about myself and my own sanity, so thanks for that, miss Jenny.
I will leave the debates on whether this book was good or bad or problematic representation and if that’s okay to other people. I only know my personal feelings about it. In some ways, it was just ridiculous enough to be entertaining. While in other ways, it left me feeling alienated and skeptical of a culture/lifestyle I definitely don’t fall into, as a queer woman. I can’t imagine how exhausting it would be to have to label and perform every tiny aspect of your identity instead of just existing.
PS- the social media/millennial twitter speak/whatever the fuck was so irritating. Tell me why I’m pulling up URBAN DICTIONARY for 75% of the slang used in this book. Maddening....more
The format of being written in not just letters - but letters to God, in which Celie shares with us things you Stop everything and go read this book!!
The format of being written in not just letters - but letters to God, in which Celie shares with us things you can “tell nobody but God�, deepened the connection I felt reading her story. Just from the opening passage I felt a crushing weight on my heart of what I was reading. However, it was much more than just a story of the abuse Celie endured, but also a story of hope and resilience, and love.
The writing style is another thing I loved about this book. Straightforward and direct. I felt every word had been carefully chosen and well earns this book its place as a classic. A timeless masterpiece.
One of the most depressing books I’ve ever read. I loved it.
Stoner follows William Stoner through a lifetime. We see him at university, through his unOne of the most depressing books I’ve ever read. I loved it.
Stoner follows William Stoner through a lifetime. We see him at university, through his unhappy marriage, his time as a professor and then dean of students, his affair with a young instructor, all the way into old age.
This book was filled with beautiful writing and a heavy, melancholic tone that slowly weighs on you until you are completely depressed. This book is bleak, nihilistic, SAD. It is very slow paced, however, it holds a lot of powerful insight and interesting commentary.
Stoner’s wife, Edith, was not the focus of the book but she was the most interesting to me. She may be viewed as the villain by some, but I think her character shows what a lot of women went through in that time, where everyone was expected to be married young and stay trapped in unhappy marriages.
“She learned that she would have duties toward her husband and family and that she must fulfill them.� During their honeymoon, Edith doesn’t want to be intimate with Stoner, leading to sadness and confusion on his part. Eventually, it happens, in a dissatisfactory way. The whole honeymoon scene just stabbed me in the heart because despite it being told from Stoner’s point of view, I really felt it from her side and could imagine what it’s like for many women to be terrified on their wedding night with little education or choice on the matter.
When they get back from the honeymoon she begins bizarrely scrubbing their new apartment and refusing his help. “When Stoner tried to help her she became stubborn, her lips tightened, and she shook her head; he needed the time for his studies, she said; this was her Dz.� She’s trying to do her job. Be a wife. The only way she knows how. Edith’s bizarre changes in behavior, such as her compulsion to reinvent herself with a new wardrobe, haircut and accent, speak to her lack of identity.
I think this line sums up their entire relationship quite well: ”He wanted to comfort her; he wanted to soothe her; but he did not know what to say.� All I can think is that I’m glad to be born in this time period so I have more options than to end up like her.
In contrast to his dry relationship with Edith, Katherine Driscoll offers a brief spell of dormant passion in Stoner. He says that his “awkward hand seemed to come alive�, finally finding a partner to explore his sexual desires that were effectively snuffed out when it came to Edith. I found the comparison of Katherine’s “warmth� literally and figuratively, to Edith’s coldness, very interesting. The days with Katherine can easily be seen as Stoner’s only happy days. The most emotional moment of the book is decades later when Stoner, now alone and aging, reads Katherine’s book and is reminded of his love for her.
”But he was not beyond [love], he knew, and would never be. Beneath the numbness, the indifference, the removal, it was there, intense and steady; it had always been there.�
THIS LINEEEEE
I feel this is the most important line of the book. Stoner’s story ends on a bleak yet achingly beautiful note. “If I had been stronger, he thought; if I had known more; if I could have understood.� A man whose life was dedicated to knowledge, a professor who taught literature, philosophy, and history, in the end knew very little, but never gave up on love. This has catapulted Stoner high on the list of the best books I’ve ever read.
PS: I need to include a rant about THAT BITCH LOMAX. Buddy would not give it A REST trying to ruin Stoner’s life. How are you gonna stay mad for DECADES because he failed some kid you liked? Lomax please get a hobby....more
I Who Have Never Known Men explores what it is to be a woman, to be human, in one of the most moving pieces of literature I have encountered. Like manI Who Have Never Known Men explores what it is to be a woman, to be human, in one of the most moving pieces of literature I have encountered. Like many of my favorite books, I think of it as an experience, not a traditional plot. It is dazzling, mystifying, and deeply thought provoking.
The exploration of female dynamics, was the most fascinating element of this book. How would society function if “society� was made up of 40 women? The book went into many topics, such as aging and the passage of time, how the narrator describes herself and her body as the “clock� the older women all live by. It shows how women can turn against each other and become complaisant in their oppression - “There’s no point in rebelling. We must just wait until we die,� says Anthea at one point - or how women can choose to uplift each other, strengthen and support one another, and stand unified, the key to liberation.
I found it fascinating to consider what life would be like in the circumstance our characters are in. As a psychology student, I often speculate about how much of our personality and worldview is innate and how much is influenced by experience. What would life be like, devoid of the daily experiences we all have? With a knowledge of the world confined to a small cage?
Also as someone who is interested in human relationships, the narrator’s thoughts about love and desire were very fascinating. Despite her lack of knowledge on “making love�, the narrator is sexually attracted to men, based on the glimpses of a guard she sees and her fantasies of various interactions with him. The exploration of sexuality, specifically female heterosexuality within this patriarchal world was definitely very interesting especially as a queer woman whose experience with romance and intimacy never required men. There is a lot of discussion of the narrator discovering her own sexuality and anatomy, but I did think at times it was a little too� straight?? for me. Like she doesn’t get a period because her uterus magically knows there’s no men around to inseminate her? Girl I wish. In essence, she has never known men and yet men are an unshakable presence in her world.
Beyond the commentary on gender, I think the commentary on what it means to be human is even more compelling. How could I consider myself a human being? she wonders. I who have only known thirty-nine people and all of them women? She follows up by speculating that the purpose of life is to bear children, something she is incapable of. This part broke me. I couldn’t disagree more. To be human is to love, want to be loved, be in constant pursuit of knowledge. To be human is to bury the bodies of your fellow humans, even if you are the last person on earth.
The second half of the book focuses mostly on survival outside the bunker. The harrowing journey through an apocalyptic wasteland, enduring loss after loss, felt very reminiscent of The Road, one of my all time favorites.
“I felt the burden of the inexplicable, of my life, of this world to which I was the sole witness. I had nothing else to do in it but continue my journey.�
I can’t recommend this enough. I feel so enlightened after reading this....more
"The place where you came from ain't there anymore, and where you had in mind to go is cancelled out. This place you are now - inside your daddy's hou"The place where you came from ain't there anymore, and where you had in mind to go is cancelled out. This place you are now - inside your daddy's house - is nothing but a cardboard box I can knock down any time."
We had to choose a short story to read for school and I chose this one and holy jesus that was disturbing! Arnold Friend stay the fuck away from me! This was excellent though, so glad I got to discover Joyce Carol Oates....more
This book was FOR ME. My type of character. My sense of humor. I can’t tell you how many times I laughed reading this. I really enjoyed Eileen, and itThis book was FOR ME. My type of character. My sense of humor. I can’t tell you how many times I laughed reading this. I really enjoyed Eileen, and it was the same sharp style and deep dive into our narrator’s unfortunate, troubled mind that I loved in My Year of Rest and Relaxation. Ottessa Moshfegh is amazing at crafting characters.
“Oh, sleep. Nothing else could ever bring me such pleasure, such freedom, the power to feel and move and think and imagine, safe from the miseries of my waking consciousness.�
I was hesitant going into this book because I had seen mostly bad reviews, most of which complained the narrator is unlikable and boring. Honestly I’m starting to think an unlikable narrator is a qualifier for me loving a book! The way she squandered her opportunities in life and made bad choice after bad choice was certainly frustrating, and I found myself looking at her through Reva’s standpoint of envious condescension. If I was that rich and didn’t have to go to work, would I want to pop some pills and sleep all day? Maybe. Yeah.
“This was how I knew the sleep was having an effect: I was growing less and less attached to life. If I kept going, I thought, I'd disappear com-pletely, then reappear in some new form. This was my hope. This was the dream.�
This book was chefs kiss for me. I would totally chill with this girl. Or maybe take a good nap....more
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